Randy's Heart
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: Randy has always loved Sharona but always had a heart time telling her how he felt. When Monk's insenstivity reaches so far that he only gets 10 tickets to a show 11 people were going to see including Monk Randy gives up his ticket so Sharona can go


Disclaimer: I don't own Monk, any of the characters that go with it **or **a little piece of this plotline which I'm borrowing from my friend Bob Wright (though it's not exactly the same as his) I do own the rest of the plot-line and any of the original characters. Please enjoy for I worked really hard on this story. Please review it and tell me what you think. Constructive flames are accepted and appreciated as is complimentary reviews however flaming for flames sake will be ignored or erased

**Argument and confrontation**

Adrian Monk was not a man that liked to be told he was doing the wrong thing. He was not a man that could handle criticism or meltdowns so he often resounded to them in a way that was harsh or punitive. He was never like that when Trudy was alive but after her death he felt like any other way would be betraying Trudy. Sharona's house burned down and since Adrian was having some guests for the holiday (with the encouragement of Dr. Kroger) he had invited Sharona and Benjy over to stay with him until her house was settled.

Sharona appreciated the offer but soon grew irritated at Adrian's consistent criticizing and one day he pushed her too far and she outwardly told him that he was being insensitive and blissfully unaware of the fact.

"NOW YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR," he told her, "NOW UNTIL- UNTIL THE HOLIDAY YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING. YOU CAN'T JOIN IN THE ACTIVITIES OR JOIN IN DESERT OR NOTHING LIKE THAT. ALSO THE TV AND COMPUTER IS GONNA BE SET AT A PASS-CODE SO YOU CAN'T USE IT"

She glared at him and then took one of his prized items, a bracelet that Trudy had…

"GIVE THAT BACK," he cried more hurt then angry.

"No… not until you take back what you said. You have no right being so insensitive and-"

"Okay, okay, fine, fine I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he cried in desperation to get the bracelet back, "maybe I was being a bit insensitive. I don't know"  
She threw the bracelet at him. Yes he had apologized but inside he was seething at her for calling him on his behavior.

**Mr. Monk makes a stupid decision **

Everyone was looking forward to going to see the musical that they had agreed to see. They had all wanted to see the same one which was amazing to Monk because normally they would have disagreed over it.

Because of Adrian's quirk… he decided he liked the number 10 better then the number 11. She he called up to order the tickets.

"Hi. I would like to order 10 Orchestra tickets to Tale of Two Cities the Musical please"  
He put the tickets on his credit card and that was the end of it… or so he thought. He didn't think ahead. He didn't realize what he was doing.

The day finally came and everyone was excited… especially Sharona since it had been her favorite book as a child.

"I'm sorry Sharona," Adrian said, "You'll have to stay here"

"What? Why!"

"I only got ten tickets"

"You only got ten tickets," Natalie asked, "why did you only get ten tickets when there were 11 people going?"

"Ten is a better number. Besides, Sharona doesn't deserve to go."

Randy threw Monk a deadly glare. He would be 10 feet under if looks could kill. He could see Sharona was upset.

**Calling him out**

"Monk," Leland said, "do you realize how insensitive you're acting right now"

"I am not acting insensitive," Monk replied stamping his feet, "and I don't think you're being far to suggest that I am"

"Right now you're acting like a toddler. Look at her. What does her facial expression tell you"

"She has to pay for calling me insensitive"

"Monk, you **are** being insensitive"

"Listen," Monk replied, "lets just enjoy the rest of the day. I was thinking we could go to lunch. We could even go to Sharona's favorite place"  
He squirmed knowing that he wasn't going to get out of trouble so easily.

"Yeah that's very nice," Sharona said sadly.

Benny put a hand on his mother's arm. She smiled at him. Her love shined in her eyes when she looked at him. Looking at Monk however something very different glowered. It was a look of pure disgust.

"Come on," Monk said cheerfully, "We should go now if we don't want to miss the special deal"  
On the way there Natalie walked along-side Monk.

"How could you treat her like this," she asked in an angry whisper.

"She'll be okay," Monk said, "she called me insensitive and she used the bathroom in times not allotted her. She deserves to be punished for that"

"You know," Natalie said wisely, "if she were Trudy you would never talk like that"

"Trudy would never call me insensitive," Monk countered

"She wouldn't be proud of you," Natalie said, "I can tell you that much"

**Randy comes through**

Later that day it was getting close to the time to leave. Randy could see Sharona was clearly upset though she tried to put on a smile for Benjy's sake. He couldn't stand it anymore. He went and set down next to Sharona.

"Listen Sharona," he said, "why don't you take my ticket?"

Sharona looked up.

"What?"

"Why don't you take my ticket," he repeated, "I've seen the show before"  
Randy was lying through his butt. He never saw the show before and he had actually really wanted too. But he wanted for Sharona to be happy and not to feel guilty about what was going on. She'd been through enough already and besides he could go some other time.

"Randy," Monk argued, "you can't do that. She needs to be punished for calling me insensitive"

"Well if the shoe fits wear it," Randy said, "and don't even think about telling me what I can and can't do for my friends. Monk, you've been acting insensitive towards her since she got here"

"How?"

"How?"

"Yes how as in… how"

"You've been comparing her to Natalie, criticizing every move she makes, calling her flabby, treating her like her feelings don't matter etc."

"Well she has gotten a little heavier"

"THAT'S BECAUSE I'M PREGNANT YOU FLIBBITY JIBBIT"

"Pregnant?"

"Yes. My sister can't have children so I'm carrying her baby for her. I need all that stuff to keep me calm and NOT have a miscarriage."  
Monk suddenly felt smaller then a two inch thimble.

"I didn't know," he whispered

"You didn't ask," Randy countered

"It's not that I didn't ask. I didn't think to ask"

"Well you need to think," Leland said, "but we'll have that conversation later"  
Monk sighed knowing two things. First, he knew it was going to be a pointer conversation. Second he knew he deserved it. He knew it would hurt but he didn't care. His heart hurt knowing that he had upset a friend and worse, disappointed Trudy.

He knew what Trudy would say if she could see him now. She would not be pleased at all.

"Sharona, Randy will you please excuse us for a minute. I need to have a word with Monk."

Leland grabbed Monk's arm and led him out to the patio.

"Sit"

"What?"

"You heard me. I said sit"

Monk sat down.

**A surprising twist of events**

To Monk's surprise and utter amazement Leland did NOT get mad. He was calm and almost sympathetic with Monk.

"Monk," he said calmly, "do you remember when Trudy died-"

"Of course I do," Monk shuttered, "what kind of question is that?"

"Do you remember how depressed you were?"  
Monk nodded

"Okay now picture how Sharona must be feeling"

**Considering**

Meanwhile in the other room Randy and Sharona sat talking.

"Randy I don't understand something," Sharona said, "You're such a great guy. Even when you act silly you're a great guy"

"Thanks," Randy said beaming.

"You are such a wonderful person and yet at the same time you don't believe in yourself. You second-guess yourself all the time."

"Do I do that," he reflected

"You really do"

"You see that's because my heart tells me one thing and my head tell me another. If I listen to my heart my head would be mad at me and if I listen to my head my heart would be mad at me so I don't know who I should listen to"

"What the worst that could happen," Sharona asked, "if you make the wrong decision"

"Someone might be upset with me," Randy suggested, "or I would be upset with me"

"Okay and that would suck," Sharona acknowledged, "but it's not the worst thing in the world either. There comes a time in every man and woman's life where they have to stop doubting themselves," she put her hand on his heart, "and start trusting themselves"

Randy nodded realizing Sharona was right.

Of course that begged the question when was Sharona ever wrong. In Randy's mind she was never wrong. She was too smart to be wrong. She was also the kindest person he ever knew and she always did the right thing no matter the cost. She was never afraid to admit when she was a little out of line. She always made him laugh. She always made him feel better about himself. Yes they would tease each other and give each other a hard time but that was part of their relationship.

**Bounding **

"But what happens if you get upset with me," he asked

"So what," Sharona said, "I get upset with Benjy from time to time. Does that mean I don't love him?"

"No of cou- you love me!"

"GOD help me yes I do"

Carefully he reached for her hand.

"When did you realize it," she asked him

"I probably realized it the day that I was dealing with a really tough thing and you came through for me. You were like my Knight in Shinning Armor that day"

"It was nothing," Randy said shyly

"Nothing? It was a huge something to me"

"Yeah but I've been there before. You never were. Someone had to be the fall guy. I would have rather it be me then you any day of the week."

After a moment of silence he asked, "so what do you think of us… being an us"

"I think," Sharona said, "yes. But I also think we need to ease Benjy into it. So I think we should go slowly"

"I thought he liked me"

"Oh he's crazy about you," she said, "but he doesn't trust guys anymore since I was abused by my last two boyfriends. They were awesome at first too but they turned out not to be the nicest of guys."

"That's putting it mildly," Randy said angrily, "they should be 12 feet under"

"12? Don't you mean 6 feet under?"

"No that's too good for them," Randy said, "the closer they are to hell the better"

"I never noticed before but you're sexy when you get angry"

"You think I'm sexy," Randy laughed

"I don't just think it. I know it"

Randy put an arm around Sharona. She relaxed into his embrace.

"Sharona," he told her, "I will never let anything bad happen to you ever anymore"

"I know that Randy," she told him, "and I appreciate that"

She smiled up and him and added, "you'll never know how much I appreciate that"

**Outside men talk**

"Okay I get it," Monk said, "but I can't… I just can't change"

"Why do you think that," Leland asked

"Because… if I were to treat Sharona with respect I would be betraying Trudy"  
Leland shook his head confused.

"That makes… no sense thank you very much. How would you be betraying Trudy by treating Sharona with respect?"

"I always treated Trudy with respect," Monk explained

"Okay again that makes no sense"

Monk sighed inwardly.

"It's complicated," he said, "Trudy was everything that made me who and what I was. Any time I was having a bad day she was always be there to make it right… to make the hurt go away. She was always there and she was always… even when she got mad at me… and she did a couple of times for good reason but she was so tender, so gentle… so calm… so in control… so-"

"Yeah Monk I get that. What I don't get is how in your mind treating Sharona with respect would be betraying Trudy?"

"Trudy was… she… knew that I loved her. I never once got mad at her. I never once said no to her. I never once put my foot down. I never once allowed anything bad to happen to her… not until… I should have stopped her from going to the garage that day. I should have been mean"

"So what you're really saying is that you care about your friend and don't want to lose her," Leland redirected, "and for the millionth time that wouldn't have been mean"

"Well yes but how can I treat another woman with kindness and gentleness. What would Trudy say if she saw that?"

"She would say 'nice going Adrian. I'm proud of you"

"She would feel like I'm being unfaithful"

"No **you **would feel like you're being unfaithful though I'm not sure why you would feel like that"

**Randy's confession**

"Sharona," Randy told her, "there's- there's something I need to tell you"

"Go ahead," she said, "I'm listening"

"I really admire you. I always have."

"You do? So why are you always teasing me?"

"Because," Randy admitted, "I feel inferior to you"

"What," Sharona asked, "why would you feel inferior to me?"

"You have… it"

"It? What is it?"

"You… you have pazaz. You tell it like it is and you aren't afraid of what other people will think. You do what you know is right and you don't really worry about the after thought of it"

"I may have that 'devil may care' attitude but believe me when I tell you that I do care about what other people think. I care about what you think especially because I respect you"

"You do?"

"Didn't you know that? You know what I notice most about you. The look that you have in your eyes right before you're about to do something says, "I care" and that makes you shine in my eyes"

"Actually that look is "I just ate a whole dish of Red Barren Pizza and feel sick as a dog," Randy joked causing Sharona to laugh.

"Are you sure you don't mind skipping the show," Sharona asked

"Even if I did, which I don't it's worth it to me. I want you to go and I want you to enjoy yourself. It means a lot to me, no, it means everything to me to see you happy. I love you and… I love Benjy. Benjy is like a son to me. I couldn't love him more if he were my own son. In my mind he's been my own son for many years."

"You really mean that?"

"If I didn't mean it I wouldn't say it"

Just then the door opened and Monk came in.

"Sharona," he said, "may I talk with you for a minute"

**Heart to Heart**

"I guess so," Sharona said, "If by talk you don't mean criticize everything I do, call me flabby and be really insensitive"

"No. I mean talk. Randy can you please excuse us for a minute"  
Randy nodded

"Don't even think about doing anything mean to her," he said

"I promise," Monk replied, "you have my word"  
Randy was quiet for a minute

"Tell you what," Monk said, "if I hurt her you can have my Trudy pillow"

"Okay he's serious," Sharona said, "he would never do anything to risk losing his Trudy pillow. He would never do anything to risk losing anything that was Trudy's"  
So Randy reluctantly left the room.

"You want to sit down," Sharona asked Monk.

"Sure," Monk said reluctantly, and then grabbed a seat, "I know that I was being a bit unfair to you-"

"A bit?"

"Okay… a lot but I was wrong in my treatment of you and I apologize and I take back everything I said"

"Thank you Adrian," Sharona told him, "that means a lot to me"

**Fourteen Months Later**

"Sharona come on," Randy said, "we don't want to miss the plane. It's our honeymoon. Three weeks in Disneyland. It's going to be so exciting"

"I know I can't wait," Sharona said

"Um… before we leave," Randy paused, "I was wondering… what if we took Benjy with us"

"What? You would do that?"

"Hey… he's a part of this family and he was before I was. Disneyland is a place for children"

As they left Sharona realized something. She had the best family in the entire world. She put one arm around each of her two favorite men and they left


End file.
